Yearning for some more bling?

Friday

May 18, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Every so often some of us have a few bucks burning a hole in our pockets.

Stan Elias

Every so often some of us have a few bucks burning a hole in our pockets. Or it’s graduation season and the graduate is into technology. Or it’s Fathers’ Day and you know he would appreciate a new toy, even if he wasn’t quite sure how to use all of the bells and whistles.

Well, CNET (http://www.cnet.com) is a website that provides product reviews and prices, free (to try) software downloads and tech news. They recently featured their picks for the best new gadgets for this spring in several categories. So if you have gifting on your mind, or if you have that craving for yourself, here are a few ways you can scratch that itch.

If cameras are your thing, Sony has introduced a line of Cyber-shot H-series megazoom models. The new line bears some similarities to current models, and the only one that is completely new is the HX30V. This model, though compact, features a 25-500mm lens, or a 20X zoom. It also has built-in Wi-Fi, which can be used to back up directly to a computer, send to online sharing sites or Sony’s PlayMemories cloud storage service, or for transferring photos and video to a smartphone.

Sony touts enhanced low-light shooting capabilities; faster autofocus (always a good thing, especially on megazoom cameras); a digital zoom that doubles the optical zoom while keeping full resolution (wink wink, nudge nudge); improved image stabilization while shooting movies; and dual recording of 13-megapixel photos and full HD video. They also have built-in GPS with log recording and a 3-inch 921K-dot-resolution LCD.

If you need the latest and greatest smartphone, check out the HTC One X, offered by AT&T. This phone does not feature quad-core power, although with a feature-packed camera, connection to AT&T’s high-speed LTE 4G network and excellent performance running Ice Cream Sandwich, Android’s latest incarnation, you probably won’t care.

The One X is crafted from a single piece of polycarbonate plastic. Measuring 5.3 inches tall by 2.75 inches wide. At 0.36 inch thick, the phone has a slim profile, considering the large screen. And at 4.6 ounces, it certainly is a handful, but the extra heft lends the plastic phone some solidity.

On the front of the device is a 4.7-inch (1,280 x 720 pixel) super LCD screen that gets very bright, and above that is a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats and vanity shots. On the back are the 8-megapixel camera and LED flash.

AT&T claims that the HTC One X will run for 12.5 days in standby mode and provide 8.5 hours of talk time. That’s a long time for a device with such a big screen. The One X does boast a 1,800mAh battery that, unfortunately, is not removable.

The only other disappointment is the phone’s lack of an SD card slot for extra memory expansion.

It’s hard to imagine a DVR without a hard drive or a video output, but that describes the new Simple.TV box perfectly. It is capable of recording over-the-air HDTV along with traditional DVR functionality, like pausing live TV. What makes Simple.TV unique, compared to traditional DVRs is that it doesn’t have an HDMI or any other kind of video output. Instead, it relies on streaming video to a box you may already have on your home network. Supported devices include Roku, iPad, Boxee and Google TV. Simple.TV will have an app for each of the supported boxes that allows you to access not only your recorded programs, but live TV as well.

There is no built-in hard drive, so you need to connect a USB drive for storage. That bumps up the cost of the system, but it makes it easier to upgrade as larger drives continue to get cheaper.

Most of Simple.TV’s good features require a $5 monthly fee for “premier service.” This gets you “season pass”-like automated recordings, among other features. This is a lot less than TiVo charges, but it still may be a turnoff to budget-conscious consumers who are trying to avoid monthly fees altogether.

Despite all of its capabilities, Simple.TV has serious drawbacks. It’s a single-tuner device, so you will need two boxes to do a basic DVR task like recording two programs at once. There is also no built-in WiFi on the device, which means you will need an Ethernet connection in your living room.

These products are scheduled to be available late spring, which is now. Happy hunting!

Stan Elias writes on business and technology issues and operates Tensor Communications, a West Barnstable-based marketing and communications consultancy specializing in high-tech companies. He can be reached at stan_elias@comcast.net

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.